The VCS Program is the world’s most widely used voluntary GHG program. Over 1,600 certified VCS projects have collectively reduced or removed more than 500 million tonnes of carbon and other GHG emissions from the atmosphere. Individuals and corporations around the world are recognizing the importance of reducing their GHG emissions. As a result, many of them are reducing their carbon footprints through energy efficiency and other measures. Quite often, however, it is not possible for these entities to meet their targets or eliminate their carbon footprint, at least in the near term, with internal reductions alone, and they need a flexible mechanism to achieve these aspirational goals. Enter the carbon markets. By using the carbon markets, entities can neutralize, or offset, their emissions by retiring carbon credits generated by projects that are reducing GHG emissions elsewhere. Of course, it is critical to ensure, or verify, that the emission reductions generated by these projects are actually occurring. This is the work of the VCS Program – to ensure the credibility of emission reduction projects. Once projects have been certified against the VCS Program’s rigorous set of rules and requirements, project developers can be issued tradable GHG credits that we call Verified Carbon Units (VCUs).  Those VCUs can then be sold on the open market and retired by individuals and companies as a means to offset their own emissions. Over time, this flexibility channels financing to clean, innovative businesses and technologies.

There are generally 5 basic steps in the VCS project cycle:

Step 1: Choose a Methodology

Projects may choose a methodology approved through the VCS Program or project proponents develop a new methodology for VCS approval.

Step 2: Describe and List Project

Project proponents must create a project description to demonstrate a project meets all the requirements of both the VCS Program and the applied methodology. Project proponents must also list their draft project description on the VCS Project Pipeline, a section of the VCS Project Database for forthcoming projects.

Step 3: Validate Project Description

Project proponents must contract an approved independent auditor, known as a validation/verification body (VVB), to determine whether the project complies with all VCS rules and requirements.

Step 4: Verify Emission Reductions

Once the project becomes operational, project proponents must follow the monitoring plan from their registered project description that details how to track and report the GHG emission reductions and other data relevant to the project. Project proponents document emission reductions in a monitoring report. A VVB is contracted to verify the reductions claimed in the monitoring report.

Step 5: Issue Verified Carbon Units

Finally, project proponents must submit a request to register their project and issue VCUs into their registry account. Upon receiving these requests, the VCS registry operator reviews the project documents for completeness. After the completeness check, project documents are passed to VCS for a final review before credits can be issued into a project proponent’s account. Each VCU is assigned a unique serial number so it can be tracked across its life cycle in the VCS project database. Project proponents may hold, sell or retire VCUs at their discretion; account holders are free to move VCUs between registry operators at any time. A permanent record of each VCU can always be found in the VCS project database.